Method for making a hand knotted pile fabric

ABSTRACT

Precut open pile loops consisting of a thick yarn, are tied to one side of a base fabric net by a thin tie yarn passing through the eye of a needle having an upturned point.

United States Patent Huber 1 Jan. 9, 1973 [54] METHOD FOR MAKING A HANDFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS KNOTTED PILE FABRIC 231,053 1011909Germany [76] Inventor: Angela Huber, Augustinergasse l7,

Salzburg, Ausma Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt [22] Filed: July 13,1971 AttorneyMichael S. Striker 21 A 1. No.: 162 039 1 pp 57 ABSTRACT 52US. Cl ..2s9/1.s Precut p p loops consisting of a thick y are [51] Int.Cl. ..B65h 69/04 tied to one Side of a base fabric net y a thin tie y[58] Field of Search ..ll2/80;289/l.2, 1.5; 139/4, passing through theeye of a needle having an up- 139/5, 6 turned point.

5 References Cited 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS3,511,745 5/1970 Holzknecht ..289/l.2 X

METHOD FOR MAKING A HAND KNOTTED PILE FABRIC BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to the making of hand knotted pilefabrics, such as carpets and rugs, in which precut open pile loops aretied to a base fabric net. In accordance with the prior art, a knot isformed of each precut pile loop by which the same is secured to a stringof the base fabric net. Consequently, a portion of the pile yarn islocated on the underside of the base fabric net, and is subject tofriction on the floor. Furthermore, a portion of the pile yarn loop isused for forming the knot, so that the pile is not as deep as the entirelength of the precut pile yarn loop.

Manually operated needles are known which include a handle for theoperator. If the point of the needle is curved, it is difficult for theoperator to determine the angular position of the point, as required forinsertion of the point into a loop which is in a particular position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is one object of the invention to provide amethod for making a hand knotted pile fabric in which no portions of apile loop is located on the underside of the base fabric.

Another object of the invention is to use the entire yarn of the pileloops for forming the pile on the front of the base net fabric.

A related object of the invention is to make the pile of a hand knottedpile fabric with a minimum amount of pile yarn for forming a pile ofpredetermined density or thickness.

Another object of the invention is to tie precut open pile loops to abase fabric net by a thin and inexpensive tie yarn.

A particular object of the invention is to make the pile fabric with aneedle having an upturned point whose angular position can be determinedby gripping the handle of the needle.

With these objects in view, the present invention provides a method inwhich a thin inexpensive tie yarn of great tensile strength and highwear resistance, is used for tying the precut thick pile loops to a basefabric net.

. The tie yarn is formed into a tie loop whose legs pass over the headof the loop, and under a string of the base net fabric, and whose headpasses under the legs of the pile loop so that when the tie yarn istightened, the pile loop is fixedly tied to the respective string of thebase fabric net.

The needle by which the method of the invention is advantageouslycarried out has an eye for the tie yarn. The point of the needle is bentup to facilitate insertion of the tie yarn under a first string of thebase fabric net, and over the next following string. In accordance withthe invention, the handle of the needle has an edge located in the planein which the point of the needle is curved, so that the operator, bygripping the handle, is informed about the angular position of theneedle point by the edge of the handle.

In a preferred embodiment of the needle of the invention, the handle hasa triangular section.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation,

together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be bestunderstood from the following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are fragmentaryplan views illustrating successive steps of the method of the inventionfor attaching a pile yarn loop to a base fabric net by means of a thintie yarn passing through the eye of a manually operated needle;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating a row of pile loops secured bythe thin tie yarn to a string of the base net fabric;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a needle according to a preferred embodimentof the invention; and

FIG. 8 shows the needle of FIG. 7 turned an angle of 60.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 7 and8, a needle includes a handle 4, and a stem 1 having a point 2 curved ina plane passing through the edge 5 of the handle 4. Point 2 has a needleeye 3.

The cross-section of handle 4 is substantially triangular, and at leastpartly bounded by an equilateral triangle whose apex is located in theedge 5. Consequently, the operator gripping the handle and feeling theposition of the edge S, knows the angular position of the bent point 2during the insertion of a yarn passing through the eye 3 into a loop orother opening, as will be described hereinafter. Without the guide edge5 on one side of the handle only, the operator would not know whetherthe point of the needle is upwardly, downwardly, or laterally directedwhich would require looking at the point of the needle which may behidden by the yarn forming the pile of a fabric.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a base fabric net 7 consists of fixedlyconnected longitudinal strings 18, 18a and transverse strings 8, 8a, 8bcrossing each other at right angles, and forming substantially squareopenings.

The legs 9a of a pile loop 9 having a head 9b is gripped between twofingers of the operator, and the head 9b is placed between twolongitudinal strings l8 and 18a, and two transverse strings 8 and 8a ontop of the base fabric net 7.

The operator, feeling the edge 5 of the handle 4, places the bent uppoint 2 of the needle in the illustrated position between two strings 18and 18a, with the point 2 and edge 5 located in a plane perpendicular tothe base fabric net 7, and parallel to the strings 18, 18a.

A tie yarn 6 passes through eye 3 and has a portion 1 I, which may beattached to the base net fabric 7, and a portion 10 taken from a spool,not shown.

As shown in FIG. 2, the point 2 is pushed under a transverse string 8aand over the following transverse string 8b of the base fabric net 7,which is facilitated by the curvature of point 2.

Tie yarn 6 is formed into a large tie loop 11a, while the yarn portion10 is supplied from the spool, not shown. During the advance of needle1, tie yarn portions 10, 11 extend straight to the eye 3, and the legsof loop 1 1a lie on legs of the pile loop 9.

The operator releases the legs 9a of the pile loop 9, and grips the headof tie loop 11a, as shown in FIG. 3, so that the size of tie loop 11a isincreased during retraction of the needle 1, as shown in FIG. 3,. andalso in broken lines in FIG. 2.

The operator places the head of tie loop 110 under the legs 9a of thepile loop 9, and grips then the legs 90 of pile loop 9 again, as shownin FIG. 4. Needle I is further retracted from under the string 80 andmoves out of the fabric to the position of FIG. 4. Portion of tie yarn 6can now be pulled to tighten the tie loop 1 la, as shown in FIG. 5, andthe other portion 1 l of tie loop 6 may be secured now, or earlier, tothe transverse string 8a, as shown at 1 lb in FIG. 6.

The first pile loop 9 is now fixedly tied to the string 8a, and the nextpile loop 9 can be placed on the transverse string 8a adjacent thelongitudinal string 18. Needle l is advanced out of the position shownin FIG. 4 to thread the tie yarn portion 10 on the right of longitudinalstring 18 under the transverse string 8a and through the new pile loop9, as shown in FIG. 2 for the first pile loop.

FIG. 6 shows a row of pile loops 9 whose head 9b are tied by the tieyarn 6 to transverse string 8a of the base fabric net 7. When the rowofpile loops has been tied, all legs 9a are bent upward to a positionsubstantially perpendicular to the base fabric net 7, to form a pile onthe front face of the base fabric net 7. Each transverse string 8, 8a,8b can be used for tying a row of pile loops. At the end of a row, yarnportion 10 is moved over to the next transverse string 8 and under thesame into another pile loop, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and2. Since the tie yarn portion 10 has to be moved from the completed pileloop 9 over longitudinal string 18, a connecting stitch 6a of the tieyarn 6 is formed between adjacent pile loops, and such a connectingstitch also connects the last pile loop 9 of one row with the first pileloop 9 of the following row. When the entire pile has been secured, theend of portion 10 is secured to the base fabric.

A pile made by the method of the invention, can be made in a shortertime than in accordance with the method of the prior art, and has theadditional advantage that less of the expensive thick pile yarn is usedthan in the prior art, since the precut pile loops 9 may have onlytwo-thirds of the length of precut pile loops required in accordancewith the prior art for forming a pile of the same depth and density.

Due to the way in which the tie yarn 6 is knotted to the pile yarn 9 andto the base fabric net, pulling out of an anchored pile loop 9 isimpossible. Consequently, a carpet or rug made in accordance with theinvention, can be heated, brushed and vacuumed without any damage.

The span of life of a carpet or rug in accordance with the invention isparticularly long, since the back of the base fabric net is completelyfree of pile yarn, and need not be covered with an adhesive. Since allpile loops are secured to the front of the fabric only, friction of theback of the fabric on the floor cannot damage the heads of the pileloops.-

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofmethods of making hand knotted pile fabrics differing from the typfisdescribed above,

hile the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in amethod of making a pile fabric by tying precut pile loops by a thin tieyarn to the front of a base fabric net, it is not intended to be limitedto the details shown, since various modifications and structural changesmay be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of making a hand knotted pile fabric, comprising the stepsof placing the head of a precut open pile yarn loop between first andsecond longitudinal strings, and first and second transverse strings ofa base fabric net, and holding the legs of the pile yarn loop; insertinga needle having an eye through which a tie yarn passes under said firsttransverse string through said pile yarn loop and over said secondtransverse string for forming a tie loop; holding said tie loop on thelegs of said pile yarn loop while retracting said needle from under saidfirst transverse string out of said base fabric net so that both legs ofsaid tie loop are located under said first transverse string; laying thehead of said tie loop under the legs of said pile yarn loop; tighteningsaid tie yarn so that said head of said pile loop is anchored by saidtie yarn on said first transverse string; moving said needle over saidsecond longitudinal string on one side of said pile yarn loop; and tyingthe next pile yarn loop with said tie yarn to said first transversestring so as to form a row of anchored pile yarn loops 2. The method ofclaim 1 comprising the steps of supplying said tie yarn on said one sideof said pile yarn loop; and knotting the tie yarn on the other side ofsaid pile yarn loop to said first transverse string.

. 3. The method of claim 1 comprising the step of moving at the end ofsaid row, said needle from said first transverse string to and under asecond transverse string to form a second row of pile yarn loops tied tothe same.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said legs of said pile yarn loop, andthe head of said tie loop are alternately held between two fingers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said base fabric net has rigidlyconnected longitudinal and transverse strings crossing at right angles.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the end of said needle has. an upwardlybent point for facilitating manual insertion of said point under saidfirst and over said second transverse strings.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said open pile yarn loop consists of ayarn substantially thicker than said tie yarn and than said strings ofsaid base fabric net.

1. A method of making a hand knotted pile fabric, comprising the stepsof placing the head of a precut open pile yarn loop between first andsecond longitudinal strings, and first and second transverse strings ofa base fabric net, and holding the legs of the pile yarn loop; insertinga needle having an eye through which a tie yarn passes under said firsttransverse string through said pile yarn loop and over said secondtransverse string for forming a tie loop; holding said tie loop on thelegs of said pile yarn loop while retracting said needle from under saidfirst transverse string out of said base fabric net so that both legs ofsaid tie loop are located under said first transverse string; laying thehead of said tie loop under the legs of said pile yarn loop; tighteningsaid tie yarn so that said head of said pile loop is anchored by saidtie yarn on said first transverse string; moving said needle over saidsecond longitudinal string on one side of said pile yarn loop; and tyingthe next pile yarn loop with said tie yarn to said first transversestring so as to form a row of anchored pile yarn loops.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 comprising the steps of supplying said tie yarn on said one sideof said pile yarn loop; and knotting the tie yarn on the other side ofsaid pile yarn loop to said first transverse string.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 comprising the step of moving at the end of said row, saidneedle from said first transverse string to and under a secondtransverse string to form a second row of pile yarn loops tied to thesame.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said legs of said pile yarn loop,and the head of said tie loop are alternately held between two fingers.5. The method of claim 1 wherein said base fabric net has rigidlyconnected longitudinal and transverse strings crossing at right angles.6. The method of claim 1 wherein the end of said needle has an upwardlybent point for facilitating manual insertion of said point under saidfirst and over said second transverse strings.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein said open pile yarn loop consists of a yarn substantiallythicker than said tie yarn and than said strings of said base fabricnet.